Prep Baseball: Is there a power shift in the NUIC East?

Milledgeville (4-0, 2-0) remains undefeated overall after finishing fourth last year and near or at the bottom of the conference the last three seasons.

Pecatonica/Durand (7-7, 6-1) has the most conference wins through four weeks, including a victory over Aquin, the East’s defending three-time champions.

And Forreston/Polo (5-5, 3-1) just dropped its first East contest to Pecatonica/Durand Tuesday night.

True, Aquin (3-3, 3-1) is far from out of the race. The Bulldogs won the East last year with one conference loss. But Dakota (2-7, 2-3), which has won the conference seven of the last nine years, has stumbled out the gates.

Is this an indication that there’s a shift in power in the East?

“It’s interesting,” Pec/Du coach Greg Deppe said. “I think it’s possible that it’s very true. Right now the teams to beat are probably Forreston/Polo and Milledgeville. So there could be a shift in the way this conference is going right now.”

Milledgeville coach Kyle Knutti thinks parity within the conference has a lot to do with past middle-tier teams starting to rise.

“This year is strange,” Knutti said. “I think you’re going to see even a bottom team beat a top team.

“There’s a lot of parity in our conference, and for us, we’re just blessed with good athletes. And with small schools, you never know what you’re going to get (each year). Hopefully we’ll have a good run for a couple of years and then build back up.”

Milledgeville and Pecatonica/Durand each have two of the most senior-laden teams in the East.

“This is my fourth year and I have five players that have started all four years,” Knutti said, “so just getting them to having three years of varsity experience is huge.”

Pecatonica/Durand has eight returning seniors and Deppe has utilized non-conference games to get less-experienced players more playing time to round out the roster.

The way conference games are scheduled has also changed this year, as a team will see an opponent twice in a week, weather permitting. The premise is to prevent teams from seeing a dominant pitcher twice.

“John Nesemeier is our (athletic director) and is the AD in charge of baseball,” Knutti said. “That’s something we came up with last year, him and I.

“I think it’s great. You have to have a little more pitching depth and I think it only adds to the parity. It will help some of the weaker teams beat some of the better ones because they can save their best for a Thursday game and not throw them on Tuesday.”

“I have to admit, I do like it,” Deppe added. “It gives you a better look at what a team is as a whole.”

And with a month before the postseason, the standings could be fluid for a while.

“As the season goes on, it’s probably going to get more and more interesting,” Deppe said. “But we’re happy with where we’re at right now.